In 1804, Liverpool was the largest slave trading port in Great Britain, yet her influential traders felt threatened by the success, in Parliament, of the anti-slavery movement.

Few, in Liverpool, condemned the ‘Trade’.

William King, son of a Liverpool trader, is sickened by what he experiences aboard a Spanish slaver, and dares to speak out against the Trade.

This epic, set during the dying days of this despicable practice, has generational change, moral wickedness, greed, romance and the fortunes of war woven through the lives of a father and son caught up in the turmoil that preceded the implementation of the British Trade Act of 1807, which would end Britain’s involvement in the slave trade.

Scheduled for a July release, you can download a sample chapter or pre-order from Geoff Woodland’s website here: Ice King

Production

Book production encompasses many things such as editing, book interior and cover design, and indexing. Some basic industry specific terminology you should be familiar with in this phase are:

• Trim Sizes: The trim size of a book refers to its final printed size, the most common of which (outside of the mass market paperback which is usually prohibitive cost-wise for the self-publishing author) are 5″x8″, 5.5″x8.5″, and 6″x9″.
• Binding Types: Hardcover Jacket, Case Laminate, and Trade Paperback are the most common forms of book binding these days, though there are still lots of cookbooks using Spiral Coil Binding.
• Paper Stock: The type (white, creme, etc,.) and weight of paper to be used for the interior bookblock and jacket or cover.
• Interior format: Basically, your interior can be black & white or color. be aware that adding color to your interior significantly increases printing costs!
• Bleed: For a printer to be able to trim the edges of a book cover so that the cover image goes to the the very edge, there needs to be a defined area to be trimmed; in printing, this area is called “bleed” and is usually an 1/8” of an inch (0.125 inch) to 1/4″ (0.25 inch) all around.
• Typeface/Fonts: The two basic typefaces are the “Serif” and “Sans Serif”. Serif fonts have small embellishments on the tops and bottoms of the individual letters designed to reduce eye strain and make reading more comfortable, while sans serif just means the typeface doesn’t incorporate those embellishments. The body text of book interiors are usually, but not always, designed using serif fonts, while headers and chapter titles often use sans serif typefaces for contrast. One of my largest expenses over the years, has been acquiring fonts. The few fonts that came with your computer are generally inadequate for quality book design, but you can find some inexpensive but interesting and beautiful fonts from independent designers such as Mark Simonson or browsing by the library of the large foundries such as LinoType . When it comes to fonts, quality always trumps quantity!
• Typesetting: The term “typesetting” these days has become a pretty generic word used interchangeably with “page layout” and “book interior design”. But the gist of the process results in how the body text, headers, footers, illustrations, tables, etc., will look on the finished page. When I begin work on a manuscript, I start by removing extraneous returns, trailing white space, and other formatting inconsistencies before the text is actually flowed into the layout I’ve designed for that particular book. The “styling” is then applied to each individual element from title page to endnote, then finally, each page of the book is examined individually for irregular spacing, hyphenation, awkward page endings, etc., and adjusted for appearance…whew!

Note: Word processors such as MS Word simply don’t offer the fine controls that modern page layout software such as Quark or Adobe’s InDesign do. If you’re in “do it yourself” mode, get the proper software and invest the time to learn to use it proficiently. Few things are as underwhelming for a reader than poor page layout and inconsistencies in font usage. Design it yourself or have your book designed, just be sure the finished product conforms to your chosen printers specifications or you could incur extra set-up fees and/or unintended results.

Tip: The best way to begin the book design process is by learning what’s currently tickling the consumers fancy; research what’s selling in your genre and familiarize yourself with the currently popular colors and styling, but as the world famous book designer Merle Armitage once said “Allow the subject of a book to determine its design and format.”

Parts of a Book

Book Block

The ‘book block’ (or ‘text block’ as it’s sometimes called) is basically everything inside the cover.

Front Matter

This is the content that appears at the beginning of the book, before the actual body text. The front matter can be comprised of a single title page or even multiple title pages, a dedication page, preface, and foreword.

Title Page

The title page (or pages) normally contains the title of the book and the name of the author. Other information or images you may wish to include depends largely upon the type of book you’re producing or your own preferences.

Copyright Page

The copyright page contains identifiers and other information specific to the book:

• Publisher Name
• Copyright information
• ISBN
• Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN)
• Edition Number
• Permissions
• Date of Publication
• Disclaimers

Table of Contents (TOC)

A table of contents can simply list all the main chapter starts and their page numbers, or they can be complex multi-level listings containing sub-chapters and descriptions depending upon the type of book. Some books will benefit from a separate listing for relevant illustrations, photos, and charts that point to the page number where they can be found.

Preface

The preface gets the reader to read the book by briefly describing the contents, purpose of the book, and explaining who the book targets. For example, a software manual may be aimed at beginners or power users. The preface might describe the terminology or special conventions used in the book, such as symbols used for warnings, tips, and trivia.

Foreword

Usually written by an notable figure in the field or genre covered by the book, the foreword is a endorsement of the author or the book.

Dedication

A dedication section is a separate page that briefly names one or more persons of special significance to the author, often a loved one or someone else the author holds in high esteem.

Acknowledgments

An acknowledgment page is where the author acknowledges the contributions of those who helped significantly with the book.

Body Text

The body of the book is where you’ll find the story, the description, the main text of the book sub-divided into chapters or sections.

End Matter

Components such as Indices, End Notes, Glossary, Bibliography and Appendix that follow the final chapter vary by the type of book.

I added his book title in italics, and also his website at the bottom, but otherwise this is the email he sent me today:

Dear Brion,

You did a lot more than design my book cover and interior, you also provided me with the road map to successfully publish my book: The Financial Insider’s Annuity Guide. The only thing I had to do was follow your instructions and listen to your advice. Now my book is in print and available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It’s hard to imagine that my book was only published in January of this year and it’s now June and my book is in the #1 position on Amazon for annuities and is the #1 Bestseller for annuities at Barnes & Noble.

I owe all my success to you! You are not only the best investment I’ve ever made, but the smartest! My success is directly attributed to your creative book cover, the step by step instructions you provided from how to get the ISBN number to filing with the Library of Congress. I could not have done it without you. Thanks for all your help and I would highly recommend you to anyone! Please feel free to use me as a personal and business reference.

Best Regards,

James M. Edwards
The Financial Insider

Nice huh? But it’s also inspirational to know that it’s possible to have a successful book without a major publisher behind you, or a big-league book publicist, celebrity endorsements, or a big advertising budget…sometimes its enough just to be sincere.

James has no idea I’m posting this, consider it my endorsement of doing things right for the right reasons. What goes around comes around…

The Financial Insider’s Annuity Guide

“This Man is an Angel disguised as a Medical Doctor—His words will Touch Your Soul”

—Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Internationally renowned author and speaker

“Dr William Hablitzel’s dedicated readers invariably feel that not only is he an author they want to read, but also the physician they’d like to have. There is healing and comfort on every page of this beautifully crafted work, which is more like an intimate, heart-to-heart chat than a book. Readers will recognize themselves and their loved ones in these moving accounts. Highly recommended for anyone who needs a reminder of what the compassionate heart of medicine can be like.”

—Larry Dossey, M.D.
Author of The Power of Premonitions

“It Was Only a Moment Ago is filled with life-changing insights that can only come from a physician like Dr. William Hablitzel—a true healer from whom deep compassion, wisdom, and clarity flows forth, like sweet, refreshing water from a pristine spring.”

—Christiane Northrup, M.D.
ob/gyn physician and author of the New York Times bestsellers: Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, and The Wisdom of Menopause

Scheduled for a January 2011 release, you can download a sample chapter or pre-order from Dr. Hablitzel’s website here: It Was Only A Moment Ago

I’ve been a freelance book designer for over eight years now, and in that time the publishing business and technology has changed quite drastically. Keeping up with those changes is part of my job, and while it’s by no means an easy task to stay current, it’s both my livelihood and passion so I immerse myself in it happily every day.

I did my first print-on-demand book back in early 2002 for who was then my first client who was a self-publishing author. Since then I’ve done hundreds, and accumulated a lot of experience and knowledge along the way. For years I’ve been passing along what I learn, giving impromptu self-publishing advice when asked, or coaching clients on how to set up themselves up as publishers, and explaining the why’s and what’s along with the ins and outs as well as the processes, but I’ve never written it down…until now.

I’ve discovered that despite the vast amount of information available on the subject, there’s still plenty to be said from perhaps a different point of view. Hopefully, you’ll find this series (I’ve roughed it out to ten parts for now) informative and useful.

Some basic concepts you should understand

To be recognized as a publishing company in the book industry, you simply need to own your ISBN. RR Bowker, the U.S. ISBN agency sells/assigns these numbers through their website. Acquiring an ISBN from someone other than RR Bowker or one of their authorized agents as listed on their web site means that the ISBN is registered in their name, not yours.

Which printing model fits your needs?

When you own your ISBN and your book possesses good content and reflects high production standards, you’re essentially on a level playing field with the thousands of small press publishers out there. The technology used to print a book has no real relationship with production values, and the quality of the interior and cover printing for offset or print-on-demand books can, just as with most anything, vary with the provider.

Choosing your printing method:

Offset printing

Traditional offset printing offers a substantial per unit cost benefit for large print runs numbering in the thousands. The initial set-up costs are typically higher, but that cost becomes diluted the more copies you have printed. The rule of thumb here is: The larger the print run, the lower the per unit cost. Some disadvantages are that you’ll need to manage that large inventory of books and/or hire someone to manage and distribute it. Where offset printing really shines, is when you have lots of orders or pre-orders in hand; making the economy of scale work for you without the inherent risk of investing in a large inventory you may never sell.

Print on demand

Print-on-demand is simply a digital printing technology that allows for copies of a book to be printed quickly after an order has been received. Many traditional small press publishers, academic publishers, university presses and even the larger publishing houses routinely utilize print-on-demand technology when it makes sense; such as when test marketing a new book or reprinting older, out of print titles. A print-on-demand title can be put on the market very quickly and inexpensively with no inventory overhead and low set-up costs. The trade off with print-on-demand, is the higher per unit printing costs which lower profit margins.

What’s the best option?

Unless you’re an established author with a bankable track record, it usually makes sense to use print-on-demand to launch your title as you can always switch to offset printing when the title’s sales volume warrants it. There’s really little perceptible difference in print quality that I’ve noticed, and I’ve seen many, many print-on-demand and offset printed books over the years. The up front money saved is usually better spent on quality design and marketing.

Recommendations…

When it comes to print-on-demand books, nobody even comes close to what Lightning Source Inc. (LSI is an Ingram Book company) has to offer. Their quality, pricing, service and distribution define the best in print-on-demand. They aren’t in the book pre-press business, so you’ll need to have your book professionally prepared to their specifications before you can upload your book files to them, and you also must have your own ISBN…they only work with publishers. They offer both U.S. and UK distribution.

Offset printing offers too many choices it seems, because I really had to agonize over whom I consider my best all-around recommendation…but I’m leaning to Thomson-Shore for a combination of factors such as quality, price, timeliness and are generally nice folks to work with.